IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL IN IGALA RELIGIOUS THOUGHT

Abstract

For the traditional Igala people, the deceased is believed to be living in the ontology of the invisible intangible beings, dynamically engaging in an evolving state of existence in theworld of animated being. From the point of view of the Igala people, death does not imply an end to life, instead, it marks the beginning of another phase of being. From the invisible world, the ancestors reincarnate into the families of their living relatives via a child or children born into the families of some parents. Different studies carried out in religions support the assumption that the majority of people believe that death is not the end of one's existence but rather a transition from one life to another. In the same vein, Igala Traditional Religion is not left out in the quest for the nature of life after the death of physical body. The aim of this paper is to appraise the Igala concept of the soul and evaluates the belief system among Igala people on the immortality of the soul. This research employed phenomenological, historical and descriptive approach in its methodology and methods of data collection are both primary and secondary sources. Findings from this study establishes that death is not the terminable point of human life but an avenue that ensure a transformation into another realm and thus, the paper concludes that life is one but it is lived in different phases, thus this life is one phase, life after this is another. Death is as importantly celebrated as life because death is not final, but a transition to a life in the spiritual realm further expanding the lens onimmortality of the soul in religious thought.